Central Maine News: June 17, 2015

These are some of the stories central Maine is talking about today.

Maine lawmakers have sent a two-year, $6.7 billion budget plan to Gov. Paul LePage. The House voted 105-42 to give the bill final approval and the Senate followed with a 31-4 vote. The budget is the result of weeks of intense, closed-door negotiations between legislative leaders. The spending plan would slash income taxes across all income levels, keep the sales tax at 5.5 percent and increase funding for K-12 schools by $80 million over the biennium. It also maintains state aid for cities and towns at roughly $62.5 million annually, eliminates the tax on military pensions and doubles the $10,000 homestead property tax credit. LePage will have 10 days to sign the budget, let it become law without his signature or veto it. (AP)

A bill that would ban the sale of powered alcohol in Maine will become law. The House of Representatives voted  to override Gov. Paul LePage's veto of the bill. The Senate followed with a 34-1 vote in favor of overturning the governor's rejection. Lawmakers across the country are moving to ban the substance before powdered alcohol, or Palcohol, hits the shelves. The sponsor says he's worried that the product would make it easier for minors to abuse alcohol. But LePage said in his veto message that the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations and the State Liquor and Lottery Commission already have said they don't intend to permit the sale of powered alcohol. (AP)

The Maine House of Representatives has given initial approval to a bill aimed at making it harder for parents to forgo vaccinating their children.  The House voted 93-53 in favor of the bill, it now heads to the Senate. The bill would require parents to consult with their doctor and get a form signed if they choose not to vaccinate their children for philosophical reasons. The bill does not prohibit parents from using the philosophical exemption to send their unvaccinated children to school. Supporters say that increasing immunization rates is important because the state's high vaccine opt-out rate is a public health risk. But opponents and people who question the safety of vaccines say the bill goes too far. (AP)

Waterville city councilors voted to approve a proposed $37.4 million municipal and school budget for 2015-16 that would increase the tax rate by 50 cents per $1,000 worth of property valuation. According to the KJ the council must take two more votes on the proposal in order to make it final, and councilors said the numbers could change for the better between now and the final vote. For a person owning a $100,000 property would pay $50 more in yearly taxes if the numbers stay the way they are. (centralmaine.com)

A brand new athletic field at a Jefferson school was torn up after vandals took a drive through it.
The tire tracks were left sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. Jefferson Village School Principal said it's another setback as they try to open the field for students and the community. It looks like a small truck is to blame. The baseball and soccer field has never been used.  As the sheriff's office investigates, school officials are looking at investing in cameras or additional fencing so that it doesn't happen again.(WGME)

The Maine House of Representative endorsed a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to receive lethal doses of medication to hasten their death. According to WGME the Democratic-controlled House voted 76-70 to give the bill initial approval on Monday. The vote follows an 18-17 rejection in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill faces further votes in both chambers. Because of the split support, it looks as though the bill is probably dead. If it has the support, Maine would have been the sixth state to allow dying patients to end their lives under doctor's care. (WGME)

There will be no carnival rides at the Windjammer Days Festival in Boothbay Harbor after two incidents at a Waterville carnival last weekend. According to WGME, the organizers of Windjammer Days didn't want to take any risks and they weren't able to get another carnival company lined up in time. Windjammer Days starts on Sunday and will feature seven ships, including a pirate ship, plus a parade and fireworks. (WGME)

New York state police plan to expand the search for two escaped murderers beyond a 16-square-mile area. The manhunt has been most intense in the woods, fields and swamps near the Clinton Correctional Facility in far northern New York. But authorities admit they don't know where 35-year-old David Sweat and 48-year-old Richard Matt may have gone after escaping June 6. (AP)

Two wildfires burning north and south of Anchorage are stretching the resources of firefighters as crews scramble to protect rural homes and cabins. A fire about 40 miles north of Anchorage has grown to 12 square miles, and has burned 25 homes and 10 to 20 other structures. Another blaze 60 miles southwest of Anchorage covers more than 2 square miles and has destroyed six structures. (AP)

The psychiatrist who treated James Holmes before he attacked a Colorado movie theater says she was so concerned after he confessed his homicidal thoughts that she violated his health care privacy to call his mother. Still, Dr. Lynne Fenton testified Tuesday at James Holmes' trial that she did not have enough evidence to have him detained. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and wounding 70 others in the June 2012 shooting. (AP)

Top House and Senate Republicans plan on Wednesday to brief rank-and-file lawmakers on their plans should the Supreme Court erase federal subsidies under President Barack Obama's health care law. Some Republican aides say House and Senate leaders are looking at temporarily continuing some aid to people now receiving subsidies while curbing some requirements of the 2010 law. The Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on whether the subsidies can continue to go to the roughly three dozen states that use the federal HealthCare.gov website and do not run their own insurance exchanges. (AP)

Stephen Curry says he's "kind of speechless." The Golden State Warrior scored 25 points Tuesday night, helping his team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 to win the NBA championship for the first time in 40 years. Andre Iguodala who also scored 25 points, was the finals MVP. (AP)